Thursday, September 24, 2015

Revelation
3:1-6 And unto the angel of the church
in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and
the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and
art dead. (2) Be watchful, and strengthen the things which
remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before
God. (3)
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and
repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and
thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. (4)
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their
garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (5) He
that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before
my Father, and before his angels.
(6) He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

What comes to mind when you hear someone speak of a “dead
church”? Do you think of a handful of
elderly people in an older building meeting weekly to hear a dry, emotionless
sermon?

When we consider this week’s church, we find a “dead church”
can be filled with people and be the one that has a great reputation in
town.

The important characteristics of
an “alive” church, are not measured in the number who attend, the beauty of the
building, or the reputation in the community.
The important characteristic is: Are you living in the life giving
presence of Christ? Are you abiding in
the vine (Jesus) from whom all spiritual life flows?

The church of Sardis reminds us that like Samson, we can
seem to be flourishing, and not even know that God, the source of true life,
has left us.

This is a sobering and searching message to us today.

Astronomers tells us that the light from the Polar Star
takes 33 years to reach us. That means
that for all we know, the star may have burned out 20 years ago and we wouldn’t
know it for another 13 years. It looks
like it is alive, but it is dead. Looks
are deceiving!

When Jesus introduces Himself as the one that hath the seven
Spirits of God, He is referring to the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We know there is one Holy Spirit, here, and
in Isaiah 11:2 it depicts the Holy Spirit’s seven fold ministry. A Jewish lampstand, or Menorah, had seven
flames and was used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, but there was one
lampstand. This may have significance in that they were trusting in their human
means instead of relying on the Holy Spirit’s power.

To understand more of Jesus’ message to Sardis, let us look
at the city of Sardis. It was a city
that sat on a 1500 foot high plateau. It
was the capital of Lydia and founded around 1200 BC. The city was surrounded on three sides by
steep cliffs and there was only one narrow road that led into the city. That made the city easy to defend, and
because of this the inhabitants of the city sometimes became lax in their
watching out for the enemy. It was this
overconfidence that allowed the city to be taken twice. Once, an enemy soldier watched as a soldier
of Sardis took a secret path down the side of one of the cliffs, and the enemy
soldier was able to use that path, enter the city, and cast open the gates. Another time, the guards were caught
sleeping, and the enemy invaded and overthrew the city. This makes the command of Jesus: “Be
watchful!” even more appropriate. Your
city was overthrown because you had become lax and sleepy in watching for the
enemy, your church will die unless you wake up and watch out!

Sardis was a very rich city.
The Greek historian Herodotus tells us that the Lydians were the first
people to mint coins. During the reign
of Croesus, the king became so rich that the phrase “As rich as Croesus” is
still in use in some places today!

Their riches seemed to make them complacent, even lazy. They trusted in what their gold could do, and
not in what God could do.

The phrase in verse 1 “Thou hast a name that thou livest…”
refers to their reputation in Sardis. If
you would come to that city and ask where to find a good Christian church, they
would point you to this church. It had
the reputation from the past of being a faithful Christian church. At this time, Jesus rebukes them because all
that was left of their glorious past, was a reputation!

When a church first starts, there is usually near 100%
involvement. There has to be since there
are not very many people, the ones that do come have to step up to keep the
church going.

This first stage would be called the MOVEMENT stage. People have a vision and are motivated to do
something for Jesus and their community.

As the church grows, more people are added, things that
couldn’t be afforded before are bought and there is what could be called a
stage of MAGNIFICENCE. During this time,
involvement dips to between 50-70%.
Since there are more people, some begin to think that they can step back
into the shadows and let someone else do the work, or service of the church.

As the church continues to move forward, systems and methods
are set up to ensure the proper working of the church. The church enters what one man called the
MACHINE stage. A great lumbering mechanism
maintained by systems and checks. It is
here that involvement dips again to around 20%.

Finally the church declines, involvement reaches levels of
just 10%, and what was once a living, life giving movement, becomes just a
MONUMENT of what it once was. A church
in this stage is dead or near dead.

***While in the Philippines, I entered an ICU unit in a
public hospital and was astounded that the artificial respirator, was a bag
that another person had to squeeze to make sure the patient had each
breath. Each breath required the visitor
to squeeze the bag for the patient.

When we think of that in terms of a church, and in terms of
reaching others, if we don’t squeeze the bag, someone will die! We must all be involved in fulfilling God’s
command of going into all the world and making disciples. We must all be involved in telling them about
Jesus!

The strange thing about Jesus’ message to this church is
that we see no external enemy. There are
no “depths of satan” there is no “Jezebel” or other false teachers named. It seems that the church of Sardis’ biggest
and worst enemy was themselves!

This rings true of us today.
For many in the church in America, do not face persecution, they are not
forced to bow to Caesar or some other false god, but our chief and potent enemy
is our luxury, our complacence, and our comfort which lulls us asleep.

Jesus calls us to be a marching army, sacrificing ourselves,
our time, and our resources to take captive souls from the clutches of the
enemy.

When in reality, many have become snoozing soldiers who are
allowing the enemy to sneak into their city and throw open the gates to the
world.

There was good news in Sardis. There were those, even in this sleepy,
self-satisfied, near dead church, that had kept their garments white. They had not given in to the sin that
surrounded them. They had learned to
stay in the presence of Jesus! These,
Jesus says, will one day walk with Him in white, for they are worthy.

It was to these that Jesus instructs to strengthen the
things that remain. Get involved! If we don’t do something, it will die!

Jesus promised that those that overcame, would not be blotted
out of the book of life. That shows us
that it is possible to be blotted out, or the promise wouldn't mean anything.

What are some of the signs of a living church?

1.Growth

All living things are
characterized by growth. As long as we
are alive our bodies are growing, maturing, changing, when we stop growing, we
are dead!

2.Harmony

A living church is one that works
in harmony one with another. Cancer is
when cells in the body refuse to work with the other cells and actually begin
attacking its own body. A living church
has a harmoniously working body.

3.Emotion

A living church feels joy, sorrow,
elation, and sadness. We, like our
Savior, can relate to what others are going through. Because we are alive, we laugh, cry, sigh,
and sing.

4.Motion

The life in us leads to us
moving. Dead bodies don’t move, but
living bodies, and living churches are filled with action, doing things for
Jesus, and serving one another.

Jesus final words to them could be summed up in four
statements.

1.Revive!
Strengthen the things that remain.
They still had some things that had a spark of fire in them. Stir them up!
Take action!

2.Remember!
Look back at all the things that God has done for you, and where He has
brought you from to fan the flames of love for Him again.

3.Resolve! Hold Fast…The church was to hold on
tightly to the things that are still alive and not to let them die.

4.Repent! Change the way they are living. Get rid of the sin that was killing them.

Discussion
Questions:

1.One
man has said that the fervency of our prayer life is one sign of the fervor of
our spirituality. What other ways can we
“take the pulse” of our spiritual life?

2.If
involvement is one way to stay awake spiritually, what ways can you become more
involved in the church?

3.We
know that money is not the root of all evil, but the LOVE of money is. We are blessed with great prosperity in
America. How can we make sure that this
prosperity doesn’t dull us to the spiritual necessities in our community?

4.There
is a promise to those that overcome, that they would not have their names
blotted out of the book of life. What are some of the ways that those in the
bible overcame? (Rev. 12:11, Rom. 12:21, 1 John 5:4-5)

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

(18) And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira
write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame
of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

(19) I know thy works, and charity, and service,
and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the
first.

(20) Notwithstanding I have a few things against
thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a
prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to
eat things sacrificed unto idols.

(21) And I gave her space to repent of her
fornication; and she repented not.

(22) Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them
that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their
deeds.

(23) And I will kill her children with death; and
all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts:
and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

(24) But unto you I say, and unto the rest in
Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the
depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

(25) But that which ye have already hold fast till
I come.

(26) And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works
unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

(27) And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as
the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of
my Father.

(28) And I will give him the morning star.

(29) He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches.

Last week we studied Pergamos, the church that married the
world. We saw how that there was a
pressure for them to compromise and give in to the world.

If Pergamos married the world, Thyatira is celebrating
anniversaries!

Just like the camel asking the Bedouin to be allowed to put
his nose under the tent flap, and then his head (ears were cold) and then his
neck, and then moved in and took over!
So is the church in Thyatira, the camel (the world and compromise) is in
the tent and taking over!

Jesus describes Himself as the one with eyes as a flame of
fire and his feet like they were molten brass.
This is descriptive of Him seeing right through the pretense and
hypocrisy and dealing with the true heart of the matter.

It is here in Thyatira, that He instructs John the author of
the book of Revelation, to use the term Son of God. Up till now, He described Himself as the Son
of man, one who could relate to our infirmities, one that could have compassion
on us, but now He uses the term Son of God. This is the only church He uses
that term with. Play time is over and it
is time to get serious with God.

Thyatira itself was located at the end of a valley, and had
no natural defenses. It was often
ransacked and destroyed by marauders, only to be built again. When the Romans brought peace, this city
began to prosper and flourish.

It was a city that was known for its purple dyeing of
cloth. They had discovered the secret of
getting dye from the madders root (a plant) instead of getting the purple color
from a shellfish that would only yield a small drop of dye.

When we read in the New Testament, we find Lydia, was a
seller of purple, and was from this city.
Paul showed her Jesus and she became a Christian. It could very well be that she was the reason
there was a church in Thyatira. That
once she became a Christian, she returned to her city and began to win others to
Christ.

Thyatira was the smallest city of the seven churches, but we
find that Jesus wrote the longest message to them.

The beginning of the letter seems to go well. They are commended for their faith, service,
works and charity (Love). This is the
only church that gets commended for their love.
We know that God is love and He has told us over and over, that we
should love God and love one another.

Yet here, we find that though they were filled with love and
good works, they were guilty of the filthiest sins.

It is true, that some people, who have an addiction, or
alcoholism, actually perform well at work!
They work hard so that their glaring faults (their addiction or
alcoholism) don’t stand out. I can
imagine that this is one of the reasons that Thyatira was so involved with
doing loving works, to somehow cover their guilt from all they were doing and
to make up for the things they were failing so miserably at.

It didn't fool Jesus then, and it doesn't fool Jesus
now. We are certainly called to loving
works after we have received Christ as Lord, but no amount of works can take
away our sin!

Thyatira was a city that had many guilds, almost like our
modern day labor unions. In their time,
each guild had a god that they were expected to worship. You can see how Christians would have a hard
time with this. “You want a job? You
have to join our guild and worship our god!”
Not only did each guild have a god, but they were also required to
participate in their sinful get-togethers.
This sometimes equated to illicit sexual acts and filthy parties.

Jezebel, probably not her real name, was allowed by the
church to teach in the church and encouraged them in giving in to these
demands. She probably said something
like “Well you need a job to support your family and to give to the work of
God! It is just your body, it isn’t
defiling your soul, go ahead, it will be alright!” This is satanic, almost like the words that
the devil used with Eve: “Ye shall not surely die!” Same devil, same tactics, and unfortunately
in this case, same success.

Or, she could have taught the damnable lie that “Well, once you
are saved, you are always saved, so it doesn’t really matter what you do, God
will have grace on you!” Both of these
ideas are wrong, and Jesus had dealt with her and warned her, gave her space to
repent, but she repented not.

Now the judgment was going to come!

I will cast her into a bed, (probably a bed of sickness) and
those that commit fornication/adultery with her would be given great
tribulation unless they repented of their sins.

Sin always brings a judgment. It is either judged at the foot of the cross,
when we repent and receive Christ as our Savior, or it will be judged by God,
either in this life or in the life to come.

Jesus goes further and says that He would kill her children
with death! This is a stunning statement
but it reveals just how serious sin is to God!

Think of it: What Jezebel and her teaching was giving birth
to (her children) or the results of what she is teaching, needs to be killed!

When it comes to sin and
compromise, it is kill, or be killed! We
must rid ourselves and our church from this deadliness. The bible still tells us “The soul that
sinneth, it shall die…” Ezek. 18:20 and

James
1:(14) But every man is tempted, when he
is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.(15)
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it
is finished, bringeth forth death.(16) Do not err, my beloved brethren.

There will be times when we will have to make a stand for
Jesus and righteousness and it will cost us something. They didn't want to lose their jobs and get
kicked out of the guild, so many compromised and went along with the sin!

Then Jesus moves to comfort those that were hearing this
message that were not involved in this sin.

To the rest that are in Thyatira, that have not known the
depths of satan…There were those that were faithful even in the middle of all
of the compromise, and as they were hearing this news of judgment, He didn't
want them to be swallowed up in fear, so He comforts them.

The promise to them was He would give them no other burden,
and power over the nations that they would rule over them with a rod of iron,
and finally, that He would give them the morning star.

Who is the morning star?
It is Jesus! He promises them the
greatest reward if they would stay faithful in that filthy atmosphere! The greatest gift that we can receive isn’t a
huge promotion, a big raise, or a fancy house, but Himself!

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus is the greatest gift to receive, as Savior and Lord,
and He is the greatest gift to give, to share Christ with someone else and
bring them into the family of God!

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

(12)And to the angel of the church in Pergamos
write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

(13)I know thy works, and where thou dwellest,
even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied
my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was
slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

(14)But I have a few things against thee, because
thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast
a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto
idols, and to commit fornication.

(15)So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

(16)Repent; or else I will come unto thee
quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

(17)He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of
the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

The quick points of this message:

1.You can make it in the worst places (satan’s
seat/throne where he dwells)

2.They were in it for the long run (dwellest meant
permanently)

3.Believers must not tolerate sin

a.Doctrine of Balaam (idolatry and fornication)

b.Doctrine of the Nicolaitans (who believed the
flesh was evil and the spirit was pure and whatever your flesh did, your spirit
was not going to be judged for)

4.Repent: Change!

a.Good results if you do:

i.I will feed you with the hidden manna

ii.I will give you a white stone

b.Bad results if you don’t

i.I will fight against you with the sword (Word of
God) of my mouth.

Intro:About Pergamos

Pergamos was the political capital of Asia the less and was
a very religious city.It had temples to
Greek gods, Roman gods and three temples built to Roman Emperors.

It had a huge library with over 200,000 books in it and was
known for the healing temple of Asclupious.The symbol of that god was a snake, and in that temple they would keep live
snakes.A person who wanted to be healed
could go and lay in the temple and sleep there that night.If during that night a snake slithered across
your body, you were considered touched by their god and healed!

When Jesus speaks to the church there, He says “I know thy works
and where thou dwellest, even where satan’s seat (Grk: thronos) is”

When we studied Smyrna, we found out there were those of the
synagogue of satan, here we find he has a throne, and dwells here.

Question:What made
it a stronghold for satan?What was his
throne here?

We don’t really know, it could be the altar of zeus that was
100 feet by 40 feet and some say it was in the shape of a throne.

It could be that they were so given to emperor worship that
it was a stronghold for the devil.

It could be the temple of Asclupious where travelers would
come from everywhere to be healed by a snake.

The greater question
is:What is it that makes a stronghold
of the devil in our life?What is it
that creates a throne where he can rule from in your heart?

In 2 Corinthians we read:

2Co 10:4-5

(4)(For the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

(5)Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

And after the word strong holds, we hear him saying:
imaginations, things against the knowledge of God, and thoughts.

It shows us that strongholds are built in our mind through
our thinking.

When your parents told you “You will always be that
way!You will never change!” that built
a stronghold.

When your teacher said “You are hopeless!You just don’t get it do you?” that was
building a stronghold.

When you were betrayed and the thought entered into your
mind “You are just unlovable, there is something wrong with you that no one
will commit to you and be faithful” that built a stronghold in your mind.

From these thoughts,
which are all against what God said about us, the devil endeavors to build a throne,
a place where he could reign from.This
is why it is critical to tear down those strongholds, and to not give place
(don’t give him a spot to work from) to the devil. (Ephesians 4:27)

He prompts the ideas “If I will never be able to change, why
try? Why go to church or pray?”

He prompts the thought “If I am hopeless, there is just no
use, I might as well medicate that with another drink, another hit, another
drug.”

If it is too late for me, I may as well take my life,
whether directly through a bullet, or indirectly by drinking and drugging
myself to death.

He puts the thought in “If no one will be faithful to me,
and they will betray me, I might as well live a promiscuous (player) lifestyle
and stop expecting to be respected”

But the good news is the Word of God can pull down those
strongholds!Jesus described Himself as
He that hath the two edged sword.In
Hebrews the Word of God is described as sharper than any two edged sword, (Heb
4:12) able to pierce to the dividing of soul and spirit, and is a discerner of
the THOUGHTS AND INTENTS OF THE HEART.By reading, meditating and applying the Word of God to our lives, we
tear down the strongholds of the enemy!

Unbelief is another stronghold that we must deal with. Worldly wisdom can war against spiritual
truth.Reason always attacks faith.

Reason can’t figure out a resurrected Savior!

Reason can’t understand a God who loved us so much He would
send His son and die for us!

Reason will never be able to comprehend a man repenting and
calling on God and having his heart changed in a spiritual way to where he is
never the same again!

When the doctors say there is no cure, but God heals them,
reason scoffs “Impossible” but faith receives the healing and praises God!

Strongholds are built by feeding the carnal man with worldly
wisdom and starving the spiritual man from faith building food for his soul!

Here is the truth. In the middle of all of this, where
satan’s throne was, where he dwelled, the church hadn’t denied Jesus, they
hadn’t given in on the doctrine, they hadn’t surrendered and moved out!

Jesus said “I will build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it…” we could rephrase that and say “I will build my
church and the throne of satan shall not prevail against it…”

Dwellest (V. 13): Greek word meant permanently!They were there to stay! The believers were
not going to leave just because it was hard and there were many enemies.They understood that God had put His most
valiant soldiers in the hottest battle and that was all the more reason to stay
and fight!

Antipas was my faithful martyr.The word martyr in the Greek meant witness.He witnessed or bore witness to the truth by
dying for it.This is another reason we
can stake our faith on the Word of God and its truth, because men and women
would not die for something that was phony or make believe.They believed and knew it to be true! Antipas
believed, he didn’t sprinkle the incense on the fire, he refused to worship the
false gods, and he witnessed his faith, with his life!Martyr didn’t mean what we understand it to
be today, until years after, until the many who “Witnessed” with their life,
changed the meaning to mean dying for what you believe.

While the church watched all of this, they refused to leave,
or give up Jesus.

If the devil couldn’t destroy them by persecution, he would
change tactics and undermine them through corruption.

Doctrine of Balaam:

He taught Balak how to have the destruction of God upon the
children of Israel.If he couldn’t curse
them, he would corrupt them! Get their young boys sleeping with the Moabite
women, then the women will turn their hearts to the idols, it worked!

We see how fornication is a powerful force to destroy
people’s purity, and to keep them enslaved.Once someone gets involved, they are influenced by their partner, and
their desires, adapting so as not to lose the relationship.How many give up Jesus, or ruin their
testimony, because of illicit sexual relationships?

This church had been so intermingled with the world it was
rebuked by Jesus.

In Constantine’s time, there was a change, the heathen
temples became Christian temples, the heathen priests became Christian priests,
it wasn’t so much a change of the heart as it was a changing of the times and
the people adapted to survive economically and to stay in the good graces of
the emperor, but not repent to have a relationship with Jesus!

Nicolaitans:

They believed that your body was inherently evil and your
soul was inherently good and so nothing that your body did could affect your soul’s
wellbeing.They thought it was separate
and therefore you could do whatever your body wanted!

Jesus stern words indicates otherwise…REPENT!

He finishes the message to them with a promise: If you
repent, I will feed you with the hidden manna.I will give you a white stone.If
you don’t repent, I will fight against you with the sword of my mouth (The Word
of God)

Discussion Questions

1.What
similarities do you see between the city of Pergamos and the city in which you
live?

2.What
good traits were evidenced in the church of Pergamos? And how would this show
in our church today?

3.What
strongholds does the devil try to build in our lives today? Are there some
strongholds that God has helped you break free from that you care to share? How
did you break free?

4.In
what way might a church today be guilty of “holding to the doctrine of Balaam”?

5.What
stands out to you as the main moral or message of this text?

6.Are
there any surprises found in this text that came as a shock to you? i.e. that
Jesus would say to a Christian “repent or else”…

About Us

My wife and I were missionaries for New Testament Christian Churches of America. We were located in Angeles City, Philippines for nearly 4 1/2 years. We are now pastoring a church in St. Louis, Missouri.